The emperor is above

Kalimbang City.

The underground area of ​​a tavern in the south of the city.

Here is the secret handicap of Black Goat Casino.

The dim light reflected from the brazier on the wall.

The air is mixed with the smell of sweat, foot odor and all kinds of weird and unpleasant smells.

The casino hall is crowded with people.

The stone floor is filled with mottled black dirt.

Noise, table slamming and dice rolling were mixed together.

Several strong men wearing goat masks stood guard everywhere, with bright daggers hanging from their waists.

The gambling table in the center is attracting much attention at this time.

The dwarf old Hank, who was lame on one leg, almost stood on the table.

His expression looked very tense, knowing that he had met his opponent!

The knotted beard is stained with tartar.

Besides there were two guys dressed as mercenaries who were carefully supporting him.

Sitting opposite the dwarf was a young man with a very handsome face.

Behind him stood two guards who looked meticulous.

Although the three of them were all wearing coarse cloth blouses, they still showed a calm nobility in their behavior.

They are playing for maximum points.

Two bone dice are placed on the table.

This is the simplest and most direct duel. No props are needed and it can be played anytime and anywhere.

Two dice are used, and both parties take turns throwing them.

Win or lose is determined by comparing the total number of points.

The one with the highest points wins the bet.

If there is a tie, re-throw.

In addition, there are additional pair play methods

If two specific identical points are rolled, usually the default is "Snake Eyes" 1+1 or "Box" 5+5, which can trigger a direct win and double the bet.

There were many silver coins with grape patterns printed on the fronts piled on the tables of both parties.

Occasionally there are some gold coins.

The bets at the table for young people are more generous, and they obviously have an advantage in the previous games.

Dwarf Old Hank is the famous "Gambling King" of Black Goat Casino.

Since arriving in Kalimbang City a few months ago, he has relied on his good luck and skilled gambling skills to defeat the old gamblers in the city.

Later, he reached an agreement with the casino and became the top card on the gambling table.

But today, he obviously met his opponent.

The young man in front of him challenged him by name.

And chose the simplest and crudest way of playing luck.

I started with 1 silver grape, but now I have won 6 gold grapes and 143 silver grapes from him!

"Damn!"

After losing another hand, the old dwarf couldn't help but check the dice again.

The young man sneered when he saw this.

"This is originally the dice on the table. We have checked it. Is there any problem?"

"Or maybe you want to change the way of playing..."

"What do you think of 'crossing ten'? Or let's play a more interesting 'adventure'?"

At the gambling table, the young man made it clear that he is also an old hand.

These words that took the initiative made the old dwarf even more confident.

"No! Just play your best!"

He took out a dirty pendant from his collar.

There was an old silver coin from ancient times hanging on it, and he put it to his lips and kissed it softly.

"Bless you, lady!"

Seeing this coin, the young man's eyes brightened slightly.

After completing the ritual kiss, Old Hank suddenly became more courageous.

He pushed over twenty silver grapes and more than a hundred copper coins on the table.

“All in!”

The young man raised his hand and pushed a handful of coins over without looking at the amount.

"Follow."

"By the way, do you dare to stake that old silver coin?"

"Huh, this is my luck. The token has helped me survive countless disasters!" Old Hank was a little excited, but then he changed the topic: "I need more money!"

The young man smiled and rubbed a few more shiny golden grapes.

The other party then took off the pendant and placed it on the pile of coins.

In this round, Old Hank rolled the dice first.

He held the dice in his arms and shook it for a moment before suddenly letting go.

The two bone dice fell down and kept spinning on the table.

As the dice covers settled, they finally stopped rotating.

After opening the lid, there were two 1 points.

Snake eyes!

Old Hank looked ecstatic.

The onlookers even made eardrum-shaking noises.

The opponent's winning rate has been reduced to an extremely low level.

There is no way to win except to shake out the "box".

The young man didn't take it seriously. He calmly took the dice and tossed them seemingly casually.

When the dice cover was pressed and then opened, there were two 5s.

Without looking at Old Hank's furious reaction, the guards behind him had already taken the opponent's coins and the old silver coin together.

The young man just focused on looking at the virtual panel that refreshed in his eyes.

[Complete a successful gamble]

[Gambling experience +1]

[Level 3 gambling: 1/ 400】

[Comprehension Skill: Lucky Favor]

[Lucky Favor: Daily Luck Guaranteed +1]

[Has mastered related skills: dice rolling, listening to voices]

......

Not only that, when Old Hank got angry.

On the small map in the upper right corner of his sight, there were suddenly more than a dozen red dots representing hostile targets.

"Despicable man, you are a cheat!"

Old Hank looked hysterical.

"I know you can't afford it."

The young man sighed but put the old silver coin away unceremoniously.

It is a shiny green star icon in the minimap, which represents a rare item of excellent quality.

Then, he calmly took the bag filled with coins from the guard.

Ignore the greedy eyes of the surrounding gamblers and the hostile eyes of the casino thugs.

With the crisp sound, I filled my pocket with gold and silver grapes.

His two guards ripped off their blouses, revealing a iris flower dotted on the shield.

There is also a bronze fighting spirit that spreads to the surface of the body, surging like waves!

"The emblem of the Aldrin family!"

"They are the Bronze Knights of the Earl's family!"

This shocked all the casino thugs and knifemen lurking around, including Old Hank.

Most of the red dots representing hostility in the mini-map instantly turned into neutral gray.

"My name is Rod Aldrin."

"If you are dissatisfied, you can come to the Earl's Castle to argue with me."

The young man laughed loudly and walked towards the tunnel exit carrying the heavy money bag.

All gamblers along the way automatically separate into a separate road.

Old Hank stared blankly at him disappearing at the end of the stairs.

Not to mention him, even the leader behind the Black Goat Casino would never dare to stop the other party from leaving.

……

The count’s castle is located on the high ground in the inner city.

This is the well-deserved commanding heights in the city.

In the early years, Aldrin's ancestors were granted the title here and built a castle at a key point on the terrain.

Speaking of the castle, it also plays the important role of a regional defense node.

But generally speaking, nobles will decorate the castle luxuriously and beautifully.

The two are actually not contradictory.

And as the fiefdom expanded, an inner city appeared around the castle.

Subsequently, the outer city appeared around the inner city.

So much so that there are now many more shacks outside.

A city that develops normally will always "grow up" gradually.

The three Rhodes rode into the castle grounds on strong thoroughbred horses.

Every time he returned to the castle, Rhodes couldn't help but look around.

This habit has been going on for several years.

When Philip and others asked, Rhodes always smiled and said nothing.

Actually, he just wanted to see if the lord's castle would stand up...

Several stable boys took the initiative to take the three horses into the stable.

Two guards live in a house next to the castle.

In daily life, he eats, lives and trains with other guards.

After returning to the castle, the two valets had been waiting for a long time.

They brought water and wiped Rhode's hands and cheeks.

At the same time, he helped him take off his coat that was stained with dirt.

Rhode walked upstairs and returned to the bedroom.

Sitting on the chair, he opened the ivory box on the table.

Take out a palm-sized silver mirror from it.

"Modeling is really awesome."

He rubbed his chin and looked at his face.

Handsomeness is the only synonym.

But if you turn the silver mirror slightly, you can see a very eye-catching red mark on his neck.

It is the "hickey" left by pinching the neck.

Tomorrow, Rhodes will turn 16.

He is actually a time traveler.

Traveled to this continent called Solas three years ago.

The original person was not yet 13 years old at that time.

He died of a vicious plague and his neck became red.

This was replaced by Marold, a polytechnic cow who stayed up late and worked overtime.

The original name was Kroll.

After Rhodes traveled through time and survived the chokehold.

The earl followed his wishes and changed his name to Rhodes, congratulating him on his new life.

Rhodes’ mother also died in that epidemic.

Patients with pinched necks will leave red scars on their necks regardless of whether they are cured or not.

It looks like a bruise left after a stranglehold, hence the name.

While he was looking at himself.

A valet suddenly knocked on his door.

"Young Master."

"Please clean up your appearance, the master will call you to the study."

"I understand."

Rhode's words were concise and to the point.

He has not been idle during the past few years.

Almost the same time is laid out.

The golden finger that came with time travel was only loaded three months ago.

Delayed justice makes people dislike it, but late goldfinger is still goldfinger.

His plug-in comes from a Lord game that he loved in his previous life.

The function is actually very simple.

There are only two items: [Map] and [Skill].

The former is purely information-hungry.

It has functions such as identifying friends and foes, surveying resources, gaining insight into treasures, and scanning terrain.

You can also choose to zoom in or out and have an overhead view mode.

His mini-map is also very effective in deploying troops and generals.

As for the overhead mode, it always reminds Rhodes of the perspective UI of "Company of Heroes 3".

Compared to the auxiliary nature of the mini map.

[Skill] can provide the blessing of abilities like a permanent certificate.

Gambling is one of them.

Betting is luck, gambling is probability.

During this period, he would take time to study gambling every two or three days and visit various underground casinos in the city.

You can master different skills after upgrading your skills.

For example, [Listening to Sound] gives him stronger perception.

As long as he mobilizes his perception, he can increase his sensitivity to sound.

There is no need to go into details about [Dice Rolling].

He can throw almost as many points as he wants.

It seems that there are additional blessings for throwing weapons such as throwing knives.

The [Lucky Favor] realized by [Gambling] that has just reached level 3 is passive.

The concept of luck is unquestionable.

Daily luck is not static.

The guaranteed +1 luck will probably keep him as far away from bad luck as possible and as close to good luck as possible.

Beyond that.

[Skills] also covers a lot of branches including running, meditation, reading, planting, construction, manufacturing, etc.

But it still takes a lot of time and effort to push the levels of these skills up.

It didn’t take long.

Rhodes habitually glanced at the miniature map.

After confirming that there were no abnormal red spots, he stood up.

He left the bedroom and walked towards the study on the third floor.

On the minimap, his father Byron Aldrin is a friendly green icon.

The corresponding terrain inside the house, including stairs and walkways, are also presented in the form of simple lines.

Standing at the door of the study, Rhodes straightened his clothes before raising his hand and knocking on the door.

"Dong dong."

"Come in."

A rich voice came out.

He gently pushed the door open and entered.

The count himself was standing in front of the long desk staring at a completely spread out tanned leather map.

Earl Byron is forty-six years old.

But he looks like he is only in his early thirties.

He had thick eyebrows and a beard in accordance with the custom of the United Kingdom.

However, compared to Rhodes, his appearance is not handsome.

In this regard, Rhodes inherited more of his mother’s appearance advantages.

When he came to stand in front of the long case.

Byron suddenly raised his head.

"Rod."

"Tomorrow is your coming of age ceremony."

"I will hold a ceremony for you in the Town Hall Square."

Rod is the second son of the family.

Although he is not the heir to the title or the family's core industry.

But he is still a full member of the nobility.

In this world.

The essence of aristocratic coming-of-age ceremony is to establish the legitimacy of their status.

Start a social and responsible career at the same time.

We must also take into account the allocation of family resources and the establishment of hierarchical order.

As long as he is not an illegitimate child, he will not be ignored due to his status as a non-heir.

Of course, the second son’s coming-of-age ceremony was far inferior to that of the eldest son in terms of scale and pomp.

After the coming-of-age ceremony, he will officially obtain the right to bear a sword.

Even if you have no inheritance rights, you can still participate in military and judicial affairs through the right to bear a sword.

And with the influence of his father's generation, he entered the aristocratic social circle.

For any noble with some cards, ceremony is a necessary part.

It’s just that the coming-of-age ceremony for the second son will focus more on practical social interaction rather than the transfer of authority.

Rhode said nothing, just nodded silently,

He was waiting for his father's next words.

At this time, Count Byron Aldrin slowly raised his head.

Looking at his youngest son with complicated eyes.

"Child."

"My child who was lucky enough to escape from the disaster of strangulation..."

"For your future, I plan to give you three choices."

After saying that, he raised a finger.

"The first option is to go to the royal city to serve as the attendant of His Highness the Third Prince."

"You will have the opportunity to learn the magic quenching method of the royal guards."

"The second option is to stay and learn management experience, and manage the family fiefdom and manor for your brother Louis in the future."

At this point, he suddenly paused for a moment and raised his hand to open the drawer.

A scroll tied with a ribbon was taken out and placed on the table.

The upper seal is also branded with the fire seal of twin butterflies.

Rhode glanced at it and asked loudly.

"Father, what about the third option?"

"Join the McKinley family."

"Their Melissa I am very interested in you."

"Old Earl McKinley is willing to give 100 pounds of golden grapes as a dowry"

......